Vegan restaurants in England!

[robvalue]

Was I ever chuffed this morning! My wife just showed me this link about a series of vegan restaurants that are going to open throughout England. Eating veggie has become fairly easy and acceptable, but being vegan is much more of a problem and has had a lot of stigma attached. (I know you're all dying to throw in your vegan jokes, go ahead I won't be offended )

But I'd like to take the opportunity to point out that vegan food is inclusive not exclusive; it's the most inclusive any menu can be. It's for everyone.

Let’s hope this is the start of something huge.

Earlier this week, I found myself in the northern city of Chester for the grand opening of the VBites cafe located inside a Holland & Barrett outlet. I had been invited along by the PR team for the health food chain (they kindly paid for my train ticket) as they wanted me to see the new concession in action, as well as chat with owner Heather Mills about the cafe.

My take on the new cafe? It’s a completely revolutionary concept for the UK.



As the photo above shows, the VBites concession inside Holland & Barrett Chester looks like any other fast food outlet and that is why this is such a smart idea.

Through a partnership with the UK-wide chain, Mills has a plan to have 25 of these outlets trading within two years and the PR team kept whispering about Bristol being next on the timetable.

This could be the way that we are going to get a 100% vegan cafe on high streets around the country. During my interview with her Heather and I laughed several times about VBites being the vegan McDonalds, but I was only partially joking.

You only need to look at the layout and the inexpensive menu featuring burgers, hot dogs, salad bowls and sandwiches to notice VBites has followed a tried and tested fast food formula. All of the stores are going to be exactly the same, with the same menu and same level of service. I don’t think I have seen anything like this anywhere on the planet.

As these concessions roll out across the UK, we will have to get used to having vegan fast food cafes in major cities and towns. The cafes owned by Mills’ company will be located inside Holland & Barrett stores, but there is opportunity for franchisees to establish their own stand-alone VBites restaurant.

I’m grateful we have someone as dedicated as Heather Mills taking a giant financial risk of this kind. She might just be bringing vegan fast food to the UK masses before any of us thought it possible.

Here is an interview explaining more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl...7cDEe_k65Q

[Alex K]

Reminds me that I need to go to England more often!